First Edition hardback of CONAN: THE PHENOMENON, written by Paul M. Sammon and published in 2007 by Dark Horse Books. The title page was inscribed by the author to the famed horror/sci-fi movie memorabilia collector and store owner, Eric Caiden, of the Hollywood Book Poster Company thusly: "For Eric Caiden - Valued Friend Colleague - Best to Crom! - Paul M. Sammon." It is in fine condition (the book itself is in very fine condition) with only light wear on the bottom edge of the dust jacket on the bottom of the spine and a light horizontal crease on the back of the dust jacket approximately 0.5 in. above the bottom edge. Synopsis: Since his first appearance in a 1932 pulp magazine, Conan the Barbarian has enjoyed every success available to a fictional character. Robert E. Howard, created the genre of sword and sorcery with his original stories; Frank Frazetta's definitive (and often imitated) Conan book covers set the standard for dynamic fantasy artwork; Roy Thomas, with Barry Smith and later John Buscema, used the character to push the boundaries of comic-book adventure; and Arnold Schwarzenegger launched his amazing film career. Now, with the character's popularity renewed thanks to the award-winning comics series by Kurt Busiek, Timothy Truman, Cary Nord, and Dave Stewart, all of these eras of Conan are examined under one cover in this lavishly illustrated book. Conan historian Paul Sammon looks at all the stages of the character's development, with commentary and archival material from the most integral players in that history, in this must-have book for anyone who's followed the barbarian through any of his incarnations. About the Author: Paul M. Sammon is a writer and filmmaker from Los Angeles. He is the author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and numerous other titles. Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. In the early 1950s, he worked for EC Comics, National Comics, Avon Comics, and several other companies. By 1964, one of Frazetta's magazine ads caught the eye of United Artists studios. He was approached to do the movie poster for What's New Pussycat? and earned his yearly salary in one afternoon. Frazetta also started producing paintings for paperback editions of adventure books. His cover for the sword-and-sorcery collection Conan the Adventurer by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp caused a sensation—numerous people bought the book for its cover alone. From this point on, Frazetta's work was in great demand. During this period, he also did covers for other paperback editions of classic Edgar Rice Burroughs books, such as those from the Tarzan and Barsoom series. He also did several pen and ink illustrations for many of these books. Frazetta was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999. He was the subject of a 2003 documentary, Painting With Fire.